Monday, November 10, 2008

Over the past couple of weeks we have had the fun of watching our friend Mike Almquist crush grapes for wine making. He has made wine for years, and this year's vintage will be for sale. He and his wife bought a warehouse two blocks west of the Fremont bridge in Seattle that they are converting into a winery and restaurant. The restaurant will have an open view of the winery (and a view of the ship canal), and will open after the first of the year.

The grapes are brought from eastern Washington.

Here is Mike driving the fork lift, dumping the grapes into the crusher (I am to the right):Abbott and Cal watching grapes go through the crusher:The degree to which the grapes are crushed is part of the art of wine making.

Stems:Mike with crushed grapes:This part of the crushing machine removes the grapes from the stems:Mike and Abbott at work:

the pressing machine

Pressing will be done several times this week. If we're able to go when the grapes have sufficiently fermented (the process takes between 3-10 days, approximately) due to addition of yeast, enzymes, nutrients and/or nature, we'll also get to see the pressing. Mike plans to produce approximately 40,000 bottles this year. Watch for the Almquist Family Cellars!

Lecia- I love wine. This is reallly neat to see how wine is made. Will their wine be available for shipping?I think when I order wine from a vineyard in Calf I order just to hear the person talk about the wine!

Once again thank you for the lesson!! Yes by all means keep us posted.